Union Minister Milind Deora has said a lot would have been different for the UPA government and the Congress party if Rahul Gandhi had got into government five years back.

A lot would be different for Rahul also in terms of him being able to say that he has experience, the Minister of State for Communications and IT said.

"What I would have really liked is if Rahul Gandhi got involved in a government a long time ago, like me and like a lot of my other colleagues. I think if he got into government like five yeas ago, when we came back into power in 2009, a lot would be different for our government.

"A lot would be different for our party. A lot would be different for Rahul also, perhaps, in terms of being able to say he has experience," he told NDTV.

However, he said there was no point talking about what happened in hindsight and the bottomline is that Gandhi chose not be in government.

Asked about the allegations levelled by AAP against his father Murli Deora, he said, "I won't stoop down to politics of making personal attacks. I have nothing to hide and I am going to be very open and say look I have provided clean good governance both as a minister and as an MP for people of south Mumbai".